United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
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Background
The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (http://www.ukaea.org.uk/)(UKAEA) was established in 1954 by the UK Government to oversee the country's nuclear research programme and the development of the industry. In 1956, Calder Hall was commissioned by the UKAEA, turning the UK into "the first country in the world to adopt nuclear power on an industrial and commercial scale". In 1957, there was a fire at the Windscale pile, built near Calder Hall to produce plutonium for Britain's nuclear weapons, which reportedly caused "32 deaths and 260 cases of cancer" from the leaked radiation. In 1971 BNFL, the authority's production arm, split off from the UKAEA.[1] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/United_Kingdom_Atomic_Energy_Authority#endnote_webbIndie)
UKAEA currently oversees five of the UK's 20 nuclear sites. Since April 2005, it has worked under contract to the Government's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to decommission old nuclear plants. According to The Guardian, it has undertaken an £8bn project to dismantle 26 research reactors and bury nuclear waste. [2] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/United_Kingdom_Atomic_Energy_Authority#endnote_brownGuardian)
Illegal radioactive dumping at Dounreay
In February 2007, a Scottish court fined UKAEA £140,000 for illegally dumping radioactive waste and polluting the sea and beaches around Dounreay, a UKAEA facility. Sheriff Andrew Berry, at Wick sheriff court, ruled that the agency was guilty of "very grave errors" at the plant, after it dumped radioactive waste in a landfill site from 1963 to 1975, and until 1984 also allowed tiny but "very dangerous" radioactive particles to be washed out to sea. The UKAEA admitted illegally releasing radioactive waste, pleading guilty to four breaches of the Radioactive Substances Act (1960) between 1963 and 1984. [3] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/United_Kingdom_Atomic_Energy_Authority#endnote_fine)
A Cover-up
In 2005, a cementation plant at Dounreay was closed after the spillage of hazardous, dissolved spent fuel and an investigation started. According to the Times, "the discovery of nuclear particles on neighbouring beaches has led to calls for a full public inquiry into the scale of pollution at the site, while the UKAEA has been accused of a cover-up". The prototype fast reactor at Dounreay was already shut down in 1994.[4] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/United_Kingdom_Atomic_Energy_Authority#endnote_listerTimes)
This was the second scare in less than a year to hit the plant. According to the Daily Mail, a Dounreay spokesman "confirmed that eight workers were being tested for suspected plutonium intake". The lab was already shut down the previous year "following a similar alarm involving 15 workers...In August, UKAEA started refresher courses following a number of radiation scares, during which contamination was detected on five workers in a week." [5] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/United_Kingdom_Atomic_Energy_Authority#endnote_grantMail)
'A PR Stunt'
In February 2006, The Times also reported how Geoffrey Minter, the owner of the Sandside estate near the Dounreay plant had banned UKAEA scientists from his land, saying that he no longer believed the UKAEA was serious about cleaning up radioactive material from the beach. Minter said he had withdrawn consent to the use of his land because the sampling exercise had degenerated into "a public relations stunt" intended "merely to give people the impression that the UKAEA was tackling the underlying hazard".[6] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/United_Kingdom_Atomic_Energy_Authority#endnote_times15Feb06)
Eventually, Minter allowed the monitoring teams return, and by mid-February 2007 85 radioactive particles had been found on Sandside Beach, and the most recent particle was the most active hot-spot so far detected since the UKAEA started monitoring the public beach 24 years ago. [7] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/United_Kingdom_Atomic_Energy_Authority#endnote_her)
Dounreay Clean-up Plan
Dounreay was once Britain's centre of fast reactor research and development, but in the late 1990s the decision was taken to end commmercial work on the site and to focus instead clean-up and site restoration. The first Douneray Site Restoration Plan expected decommissioning work to be completed by 2063. This site end point was then accelerated to 2033. However, 2033 is now only regarded as the Interim End Point.
Having been encouraged by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to accelerate the decommissioning timetable, UKAEA may now have to make cuts because of a budget shortfall at the NDA. [8] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/United_Kingdom_Atomic_Energy_Authority#endnote_sunher)
UKAEA Takes its Radioactive Leaks on Tour
In February 2006, the Authority was fined £250,000 for allowing a containment flask which contained decommissioned cancer treatment equipment to be driven 130 miles across northern England with a vital protective plug missing. Leeds Crown Court heard it was "pure good fortune" that no-one was exposed to the beam of gamma radiation, due to the fact that it happened to be pointing downwards. Counsel for the HSE told the court that the radiation dose rates measured when the lorry arrived at Windscale "were in the order of 100 to 1,000 times above what would normally be considered a very high dose rate and measurement was beyond the capabilities of normal hand-held monitoring equipment." [9] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/United_Kingdom_Atomic_Energy_Authority#endnote_telegraph18Feb06)[10] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/United_Kingdom_Atomic_Energy_Authority#endnote_hallPA)
Spin Doctors
UKAEA has commissioned the services of the following PR companies:
NuclearSpin applied for details of its lobbying and public relations activities, under the Freedom of Information Act. But UKAEA refused to reveal the information, stating that it 'would prejudice the commercial interests of the consultants'. NuclearSpin has appealed. [11] (http://www.nuclearspin.org/index.php/United_Kingdom_Atomic_Energy_Authority#endnote_FOIAno)
Key Personnel
| Chief Executive | Norman Harrison |
| Chairman | Barbara Thomas Judge |
| Director, Major Projects & Engineering | Colin Bayliss |
| Director, Safety & Assurance | John Crofts |
| Chief Financial Officer | Andrew Jackson |
| Former Chief Executive (2003-2007) | Dipesh Shah |
| Former Chairman | John Collier |
References
- ^ Tim Webb, Analysis: Nuclear haze (http://www.looksmartauto.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20051127/ai_n15874042),Independent on Sunday, November 27, 2005
- ^ Paul Brown, Ancient Egypt provides key to storing nuclear heritage (http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/science/story/0,12996,1545409,00.html), The Guardian, August 9, 2005
- ^ Severin Carrell, 'Grave errors' at nuclear plant (http://environment.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,,2014438,00.html), The Guardian, February 16, 2007
- ^ David Lister, Nuclear tests amid fears of another leak (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1830345,00.html), The Times, October 18, 2005
- ^ Ian Grant, Dounreay rocked by further nuclear scare, The Daily Mail, October 17, 2005
- ^ Landowner bans nuclear testing (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2040901,00.html), The Times, February 15, 2006
- ^ David Ross, Reactor fuel found on beach near Dounreay (http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1200537.0.0.php), Herald, February 17, 2007
- ^ Rob Edwards, Threat to 500 clean-up jobs (http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.1137146.0.threat_to_500_cleanup_jobs.php), Sunday Herald, January 21, 2007.
- ^ Lorry leaked radioactive beam for three hours (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/02/18/nlorry18.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/02/18/ixhome.html), Daily Telegraph, February 18, 2006.
- ^ Keith Hall, "130-mile radioactive leak sees energy firm fined �250,000 (http://www.24dash.com/content/news/viewNews.php?navID=47&newsID=3278)", Press Association, February 20, 2006.
- ^ Letter from Andrew Munn, UKAEA's Deputy Head of Communications, April 24, 2006.